Regulators need to ensure that information given via pensions dashboards is clearly and objectively presented so as not to influence consumer decision-making, according to the Pensions and Lifetime savings Association.
Its comments came in a response to two current regulatory consultations: on the design standards and the regulatory framework for pension dashboard services firms.
Publishing its response, the PLSA said it welcomed the fact that current proposals put forward by the Pensions Dashboards Programme and the FCA prioritised the reliability and security of data, as well as the importance of savers understanding the information presented to them.
PLSA director of policy and advocacy Nigel People says: “Saver protection is paramount and the PLSA welcomes the high bar for authorisation of pensions dashboards firms proposed by the FCA.”
However he adds: “It is vital that the information savers see on dashboards is presented clearly and objectively and does not influence their decision-making in a harmful way. The standards proposed by the PDP and are a very good start, but they will need to remain flexible as real-world experience from extensive testing informs communication approaches.”
In response to the PDP design standards consultation the PLSA says it wants a number of issues to be taken into account. It says it wants to ensure data is thoroughly user-tests and that standards will need to remain flexible.
It is also asking for more information sharing, particularly as the MaPS dashboard is currently the only one connected to the Central Digital Architecture (CDA). The PLSA says: “More information sharing on the testing progress MoneyHelper is making would benefit the entire dashboard ecosystem, for instance on areas such as standardised terminology.”
The PLSA reiterated that dashboards need to be completely up front in terms of their limitations, including where certain pensions are not displayed, and that users should not act based solely on the indicative data presented on a dashboard.
The PLSA welcomed the FCA’s proposed new regulatory regimes, which it said would need to be robust. In its response to the consultation the PLSA said: “Security of data, reliability of PDS firms, and messaging to ensure consumers understand the service they are using, are all paramount to ensure they act on the information in the right way, and do not take irreversible decisions that could lead to long term poorer outcomes. It is therefore clear that only authorised firms should be able to provide a PDS; the starting point needs to be quality, with a focus on saver protection, and on the whole, we welcome that the bar to authorisation has been set high.”
It adds: “We are in favour of the restrictive controls placed around data export. We flagged in our submission on dashboard standards in 2022 that our members were concerned about the security of exported data, and we are confident that restricting this to firms within the same group as the PDS firm will go a long way to providing confidence over such concerns.”